Have You Tried Boba Tea?

Have You Tried Boba Tea?

From what I understand, boba tea, or bubble tea, is this tea drink made from tea, fruit, and small pieces of tapioca. This sounds both amazingly delicious and disgusting, depending upon how you visualize it; after doing a quick search and looking at the photos, I’m inclined to think they just might be the former.

What I’d like to know is if anyone has ever tasted a boba tea and if they are as good as the reviews I’ve read make them seem. I love tea and I absolutely love fruit drinks, but I’m not a big tapioca fan. So would I like this type of drink? I ask because we apparently have a specialty shop that sells them up in St. Louis (it’s in The Loop, so it would be a drive for me), and I really want to try them, but if it’s not worth the trip (gas and cost of the drinks!) I’d be better off getting something delicious at my favorite local place, Katie’s.

Can you ask for the drink without the tapioca (and if so, is it still considered a boba)? Does it even really taste like tapioca? I’m one of those people who hates certain foods—say, onions and tomatoes—with a passion but once they are transformed (crispy, thin onion rings, or ketchup) I really enjoy them, so if the tea changes the taste of the tapioca, then maybe I would like it.

Also, I’ve really only had cheap vanilla tapioca pudding, so who knows? Maybe this kind of tapioca is different and tasty. I’d love to read some reviews and suggestions for types to try for the first time.